The question was: What do you do to make Eid special?

The shura (consultation) team has put in their votes and our top 3 winners have been chosen. We had 12 answers all together, 9 of which received votes.

Our 3 winners are (in no particular order)

Sølva Nabila

who answered on Facebook with this answer:

I can tell you what we do in connection to Eid! Here in my town, we are not so many reverts, but we are a little, tight group of around 10-12 of us.

On the Eid day, or following weekend, or something, whatever fits from time to time, we make a huge party at my place. Decorations, makeup, nice dresses, good food, cakes, and every woman buy presents for every child that comes. Nothing fancy or expensive, and some also share the costs like go two and two together and buy gifts.

We are usually somewhere between 5 and 10 women, and 10 kids or so, atleast. Sometimes even my neghbourkids come in too!

We do this so that the kids can sense a feeling of comunity, a sense of family, sisterhood, togetherness. We do this for ourselves, because we are all the muslim family we have got. We dont have any other muslim family most of us. Sure, some got husbands from other countries, but rarely have more family here at all actually. Its not a big city, and here, imigration is rather new, so we dont have big muslim families here.

I cant wait for the party each year, and I love it! It feels so good, and so cozy. Just a bunch of women and kids

This answer was chosen for the unity and family that these revert sisters have created in place of biological Muslim family that most of them don’t have.

Jawharah

who answered on the post here at Muslimas Oasis with this answer:

Our Eid celebrations have evolved from the time I was a child til now. Back in the day, when I was around 6, my mom would make a big pot of biryani and sweet rice and my dad would buy a huge bag of tortilla chips and we’d go to the park, the zoo, or Sea World. After a while with my siblings in college and then me starting high school, ‘Eid became just a day where we’d dress up fancier than other days and chit chat for a bit before heading off to work or to take an exam. This last ‘Eid was the most fun we’ve had in a while. In Ramadan I suggested to buy my brother a gift he’d been desiring for a quite a while, and then it ended up turning into buying gifts for the whole family, gift wrapping them as well, which is something my family never does! Needless to say, my parents were rather amused to see the wrapped gifts, and surprised we even bought stuff for them. Now that I’ve grown up, I don’t really desire being with friends for ‘Eid, and my bestest friends are my siblings anyway so alhamdulillah I get to spend ‘Eid with them!

To all the reverts who spend the day alone: I love you dearly, and I pray that Allah blesses you’ll in the company of good Muslims in the ‘Eids to come!

This answer was chosen for the family closeness and simple traditions and how the Eid traditions were lost and then found again this past year.

Yvonne (My Halal Kitchen)

who answered on the post here at Muslimas Oasis with this answer:

As many of the sisters who posted, I am also a convert to Islam as well as my husband.
‘Eid was very hard on me the first few years I was a Muslim. We would go to other family’s homes to celebrate, if and when they invited us. Depending on their particular culture, that was the way we celebrated. Then one year, we decided to make it a special time, a special day for the two of us- festive and fun, even though we don’t have any Muslim family or any children of our own.
Beginning a few years ago, my husband and I instituted a sort of ritual where we get up for the earliest ‘Eid prayer, make sure our zakat/qurbani is taken care of. Then, we go to a really fun and unique place for brunch that we’d always wanted to try out. We spend the morning enjoying that and then go shopping for our ‘Eid gifts for one another. Recently, we even decided to start visiting sick Muslim patients at our local hospital since my husband initiated a program between our masjid and our local hospital. We figure they may or may not be as alone as we are on ‘Eid and it’s just a great way to feel good about how the day is spent.
Later on in the evening, we attend any events or dinners we’ve been invited to-but only after we’ve dedicated time to these important things we’ve begun doing.

This answer was chosen for the beautiful and unique traditions Yvonne and her fellow revert husband have created not least their inclusion of sick Muslims in their Eid celebrations.

Mabrook to our winners and Jazakom Allahu khairun (may Allah reward you) to all of those who took the time to answer. All of the answers were beautiful and special and i was not easy to choose only 3.